The following writing is one of the most important writings a Christian could
read, bar none ... and re-read frequently because Satan does NOT want
Christians tapping into the powerful weapons of combined fasting and prayer. Fasting incorporated with prayer is
NOT
an option for Christians ... for those who are serious about their relationship
with God ... for those who want to walk in any spiritual victory.

Jesus
makes a bold promise to His followers in Matthew 6:17-18, (Endorsed by the Holy
Spirit, no less, because He oversaw WHAT got published in God's Word, so
2/3's of the Godhead are in complete agreement on the matter, for any
skeptics!) that if they will fast by the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit
and/or simply because of wisdom, they will be given a reward from the Father.
I can personally attest to the fact that every time I have
fasted, God has rewarded me in one way or another. Often times the
reward/s comes after I've stopped fasting. No - I didn't always
receive from Him everything I would like to have received from Him in my fasting
- but He let me KNOW He was pleased with my fasting by a reward of some sort
that I absolutely KNOW I would not have received from Him otherwise. So in
conclusion, it is my own personal experience that one simply can never come up
short fasting when their primary reason is to either have sinful/harmful
strongholds - demonic assignments broken, in need of healing, see miraculous
provision provided in times of great need, and/or simply to try to gain greater
intimacy with God ... which is what I personally believe should always be the
primary reason to fast in the first place.

After 33 years of being a follower of Jesus
Christ at present (2013), I have grown to the firm conviction that fasting is no
longer to ever be an option for me. It's just a matter of WHEN I should
fast; HOW I should fast; how LONG I should fast. I do poorly at setting a
goal of how many days I should fast as well at the beginning of a fast.
I've grown to the point where I take each day at a time, and openly admit to
myself and anyone else who might ask that if the Holy Spirit doesn't give me the
grace to refrain from solid food each and every day, the fast is over. I
admit I am addicted to food. The reason I know I'm addicted to food is
that when I even think about going without food ... I want it 100 times worse!
Thus without the strength of Christ to help me say no to food even for one meal,
or one day, my food addiction would rule! To me, fasting should be built
on an "emotional foundation" of past-successive victories, especially for people
who are as addicted to food as I am, and/or have health issues that they need to
be careful with when it comes to fasting. Skipping one meal is a huge
victory starting out. Skipping food for an entire day is an even BIGGER
victory for many. Going two days or more without food can be "Metal Of
Honor" status! Any wise person that knows anything about fasting will tell
you to start out safely conservative, and build up a history of VICTORIES over
time you can look back on to build your confidence going into a new future fast.

Some Christians get all emotionally psyched
up to shoot for a long fast right out the gate, and have no clue that they most
likely will have to deal with detoxing issues, whether it be caffeine
withdrawals for about 3 - 3 1/2 days a the start of the fast (which can be
almost as painful as detoxing from cocaine or heron for some, depending on how
much caffeine buildup they have in their bodies. [I sometimes will drink a
little coffee during my fast every day just so I don't have to deal with
caffeine withdrawals, though I know some hard-core fasters would consider that a
near abomination, but oh well ....). In addition, some people even go
through painful withdrawals for a few hours from being addicted to refined
sugar. And if caffeine and sugar withdrawals aren't even an issue, most
people will begin to eliminate the buildup of toxins from their bodies and that can
last as long as about 3 - 3 1/2 days. Eliminating toxins alone can feel as
painful as having a bad case of the flue. Combine these issues going into
a fast, and the end result can be EMOTIONAL TRAUMA. Meaning - once you've
been traumatized, it's human nature to NEVER repeat ever again what caused your
trauma the first time around! I'm totally convinced Satan would love every
Christian to have trauma visit them the first few times they fast ... so they
STOP fasting completely in their future, so be WISE about building your
"emotional foundation" of fasting experiences.

Staring out - going a day without food and
drinking only liquids was a HUGE miracle for me. Now 21 days is quite
easy, if I feel led to go that long, because I've learned to keep quality fruit
and vegetable juice in my system along with water to keep my nutritional levels
up, and I refuse to go on ANY guilt trip if I feel a bit shaky due to low blood
sugar and eat an orange or an apple. Sometimes I just need a small reward
to not totally break the fast, so I'll eat a small breakfast or snack later in
the day ... KNOWING it's just a temporary emotional reward to help me STAY
fasting. I'm a believer that we need to trust the Holy Spirit every moment
we are fasting, because fasting is not a race, nor are we to compare ourselves
to what someone else is able to do. It's a lifetime MARATHON of victories,
and we each have to go at the level we are able and comfortable with at any
given time.

As I tell everyone who will listen:
Fasting is a weapon in a Christian's spiritual arsenal, and you need to know
WHEN to use it. It is neither the equivalent of a B-B gun nor a .22
caliber bullet in power. Rather, it is the equivalent of a spiritual
NUCLEAR WARHEAD. You just need to learn that it IS a weapon that potent, and you need
to learn how to wisely use it when it's time to use it.

We are so thankful to Advocates For Prayer
for allowing us to give additional exposure to this wisdom-packed writing.

OUR STUDY OF PRAYER has
emphasized the role of our prayers on earth to invoke the
power of our God from heaven. Prayer is powerful because it
is human weakness deferring to Godís strength. As James
write, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much." (See James 5:16 KJV.)

When the righteous pray
fervently, Godís power is released to accomplish much. But,
what about those times when the cares of life distract us
from seeing our righteous standing before God through Christ
and cause us to pray limp prayers that bounce back at us?
In such times, our prayers need help. We need a
breakthrough in our prayer lives.

A biblical key to a
breakthrough in our prayer lives is to join fasting
with prayer. Jesus told His disciples on one occasion that the
reason they could not cast out a particular spirit of
infirmity from a demonized lad was because of their unbelief
(See: Matthew 17:20-21). A few verses later, He added these
words: "But this kind does not go out except by prayer
and fasting."
The point is
that prayer and fasting combined can debunk our unbelief and
re-empower our prayer lives.When prayer alone doesnít
work, prayer
and fasting will bring the breakthrough.

I find that the practical
lessons learned from the Bible regarding prayer and fasting
can be presented in an orderly fashion by allowing the Bible
to address the following question: When should we
fast? Scripture answers this question in a variety
of ways that are sure to touch each of our lives. Letís
look at them.

When We Feel Estranged
From God

We should fast when we feel
estranged from God. It is sin that separates us from God
and brings upon us the sentence of death. (See Isaiah 59:2
and Romans 6:23). But, Scripture teaches that Jesus took
the penalty of our sins in His own death and defeated death
for us through His resurrection. (See Romans 5:10.) By
believing in and accepting this redeeming work of Jesus
Christ for us, we are reconciled to God. (See Romans 5:1.)
We are no longer estranged.

I donít believe Christians
ever feel estranged from God because of questioning Jesusí
work of redemption for them. I believe it is when they turn
the focus upon themselves and question the sincerity of
their own humility, repentance, and acceptance of pardon.
After all, these three responses on our part are the
requirement of Scripture for receiving God saving grace.

When we feel that our hearts
are growing cold toward God and that we lack sincerity in
our humility, repentance, and acceptance of pardon, fasting
and prayer are instrumental in restoring passion in our
relationship with God by bringing renewed depth and
sincerity to our responses to Him. Letís see how this plays
out in Scripture.

Fasting Signifies Humility

The children of Israel were
required by Godís decree to fast on the annual Day of
Atonement. (See Leviticus 16:29). Godís gift of atonement
was to be met by their response of humility. Fasting was
the means by which they were to demonstrate their humility.

Saul of the New Testament
exemplifies fasting as a response of humility before God.
When he encountered the resurrected Christ in a vision on
the Damascus Road and was brought to the realization that he
had been fighting against God by persecuting the Church, he
humbled himself with prayer and fasting for three days.
(See Acts 9:9.) It was then that he received the gift of
salvation, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and a call to
take the gospel to the Gentiles. (See verses 15-18.) He
was prepared to receive Godís grace through humility
expressed in fasting.

Fasting Demonstrates
Repentance

Joelís prophesy of judgment
upon unfaithful Israel was followed by a divine call to ward
off judgment through a fast of repentance. The Lord
beckoned, "ĎEven now,í declares the LORD, Ďreturn to me with
all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend
your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your
God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and
abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.í"
(See Joel 2:12-13.) Similarly, James exhorts New Testament
believers with these words: "Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and
wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to
gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift
you up." (See James 4:8-10.) Fasting demonstrates the
brokenness of a heart that is truly repentant for sin.

Fasting Appeals To God For
Forgiveness And Pardon

Ahab was a
king of Israel described as one who "did more evil in the
eyes of the LORD than those before him." (See 1 Kings
16:30). But when God spoke to him through Elijah with a
prophecy of impending judgment, we read that he "he tore his
clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth
and went around meekly." (See 1 Kings 21:27.) God saw
Ahabís humility and fasting as repentance and withheld
judgment until the next generation. (See verses 28-29.)

What God did for Ahab He will
do for his people corporately. This is assured in the
Lordís response to Solomonís prayer dedicating the temple:
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal their land." (See 2 Chronicles
7:14.) The humble response of fasting and prayer, God said,
would assure pardon and restoration.

A tell-tale sign that we are
growing cold toward God is that our relationship with Him
lacks heart. Humility, repentance, and acceptance of Godís
pardon become more words that we say in prayer than genuine
heart attitudes toward God. The principle is there but the
passion is missing. In such a condition, if we are honest
with ourselves we will have to admit that we feel estranged
from God. How do we restore passion to our relationship
with Him? The biblical answer is to humble ourselves before
him with fasting and prayer.

When We Feel Weak
And
Vulnerable

We should fast when we feel
weak and vulnerable. This may seem to be illogical as
fasting weakens one physically. Many use food for
psychologically gratification when they feel beat up
emotionally. They are saying essentially, "I believe Iíll
feel better after I eat." So, why on earth would one
prescribe fasting to treat vulnerability?

The logic here is that
vulnerability points to our dependence upon God, and prayer
and fasting appeals to God to intervene at the point of our
need. When we feel vulnerable, we need God to protect
us from harm and give us victory over
adversity. Scripture confirms that God responds to fasting
and prayer by providing protection from harm and victory
over the Enemy.

Fasting Appeals To God For
Protection

When Ezra the scribe appealed to the Persian King Artaxerxes
to send him and an entourage of devout Jews to Jerusalem to
re-establish religious instruction and worship among the
newly returned exiles, he called a fast for protection along
the way. In his words, "There, by the Ahava Canal, I
proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before
our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our
children, with all our possessions." (See Ezra 8:21) The
result? "So we fasted and petitioned our God about this,
and he answered our prayer." (See verse 23.) Likewise
Nehemiah, troubled by the report of the sad state of affairs
among the returned exiles in Jerusalem, "mourned and fasted
and prayed before the God of heaven." (See Nehemiah 1:4.)
As a result, God gave him favor with King Artaxerxes to
secure the provisions and protection needed to travel to
Jerusalem and assist in rebuilding the city.

Fasting Appeals To God For Victory

Jehoshaphat, a king of
Judah, learned the power of prayer and fasting to conquer
literal military adversaries. When faced with a military
alliance of Ammonites, Moabites, and Meunites, Jehoshaphat
called a fast for all the people of Judah. (See 2
Chronicles 20:3.) The result was that God set confusion in
the camp of the enemy so that they turned upon themselves
and destroyed each other. (See verses 22-23.)

For the prophet Elijah,
prayer and fasting brought victory over a powerful demonic
principality operating through Queen Jezebel. Elijah was
fearless in the face of King Ahab and 850 prophets of Baal
and Asherah (see 1 Kings 18:16-40) but ran for his life at
the threat of Jezebel because she was empowered by a demonic
principality of witchcraft that intimidated him. (See 1
Kings 19:1-3 and 2 Kings 9:22.) At the end of a 40 day
period of fasting and prayer while in route to Mount Horeb
to meet with God, Elijah received a message from God that
assured Him of the Lordís sovereignty over political and
spiritual forces. (See 1 Kings 19:15-18.) He was able to
return at Godís command with no fear for his security as God
had assured victory over his enemies.

Fasting places us in the
position to receive from Godís hand protection from harm and
victory over the enemy of our soul. It is not that God
withholds these blessings from us but that we have been
blindsided by the enemy into living below our privilege.
Fasting and prayer open our eyes to see things in right
perspective so that we cast off our insecurity complex and
embrace an expectation of continual blessing and favor. To
employ computer terminology, the old insecurity program is
removed from memory and replaced with a new blessing
program.

When We Feel Tension
In
Our Relationships

We should fast when we feel
tension in our relationships. A sign that Godís grace is
doing its work in our lives is that we have harmonious
relationships with other believers. Walking in the light of
Godís truth means that we "have fellowship with one
another." (See 1 John 1:7.)

Fellowship implies that we
relate to each other as equals. Lack of fellowship means
that we either feel we are above others or below them. But,
when we are able to accept ourselves and accept others
equally, a fellowship is established that paves the way for
the glory of God to be revealed. The prophet Isaiah writes,
"Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill
made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged
places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the
LORD has spoken." (See Isaiah 40:4-5.)

When done as God prescribes,
fasting and prayer proves to be a great leveler. It brings
the haughty down to size and lifts the oppressed from their
valley of despair. This is evident from the description of
Godís chosen fast as related in Isaiah 58.

We Should
Fast When We Tend To Be Oppressive Towards Others

Sometimes our lives become so self-absorbed that we
unintentionally develop attitudes that are oppressive
towards others. Even our fasting can be self-absorbed as it
focuses on what we want from God as a result of our fast.
In answer to such, God encouraged the people of Israel not
to fast merely as an outward form of humility before God
while continuing to exploit their workers and quarrel among
themselves. (See Isaiah 58: 3-5.) Rather, their times of
fasting were to be combined with setting the oppressed free
and providing food for the hungry, clothing for the naked,
and shelter for the homeless. (See verses 6-7.) Fasting as
God prescribes turns oppressive attitudes into new attitudes
that truly liberate others.

We Should Fast When We Feel
Oppressed By Others

The blessings of God promised to those who adhere to his
chosen fast apply both to the repentant oppressor and the
oppressed one who needs to be lifted from his valley of
despair. Those blessings are listed as healing,
vindication, revelation, enlightenment, satisfaction,
strength, prosperity, productivity, joy, and victory. (See
Isaiah 58: 8-14.) These are results of allowing fasting to
be practiced in such a way that is becomes a great leveler
to our relationships.

When fasting, we should
combine the denial of self with the affirmation of others.
We humble ourselves before God and commit to offer ourselves
as servants to others to lift them from the humiliation of
oppression. As we make this two-way commitment, we will
find that Godís chosen fast replaces tension in our
relationships with harmony among fellow believers.

When We Desire
To Draw
Closer To God

We should fast when we desire
to draw closer to God.
Fasting is not just a discipline for
bringing problems to God to be fixed. It is also an
expression of the heartís longing for a greater intimacy in
our walk with Him. It is to set aside our physical
appetites and the time required to prepare meals in order to
focus more of our time and attention upon the Lord.

Fasting Assures A Devotion That Lasts

When we have trouble maintaining consistency in our devotion
to the Lord, it is usually because it does not come natural
to deny ourselves and put God and his interests ahead of our
own. A regular practice of fasting and prayer helps assure
more consistency in our devotion to God because it develops
a lifestyle of self-denial. This is part of the cost of
true discipleship. Jesus said, ""If anyone would come after
me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow me." (See Luke 9:23.)

The prophetess Anna serves as
an example of one whose lifestyle of fasting enabled a
lasting devotion to God. She became a widow after only
seven years of marriage. Thereafter, she was wholly devoted
to the Lord into her late eighties. We read, "She never
left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and
praying." (See Luke 2:37.) And the intimacy she had with
God was such that she immediately recognized the baby Jesus
as the anointed Redeemer when His parents brought Him into
the temple. (See verse 38.) Her devotion to the Lord made
it easy for her to receive revelation from Him.

Fasting Intensifies The
Worship Of God

Another example of fasting being practiced as an aspect of
worship is seen among the prophets and teachers of the
church in Antioch. (See Acts 13:1-3.) They are described
as "worshipping the Lord and fasting." (See verse 2.) Like
Anna, their devotion to the Lord made it easy for them to
hear from Him, and He spoke to them during their worship to
set apart Barnabas and Saul for a missionary work to which
they were divinely called. Upon receiving this word, they
spent a season of time in fasting in prayer after which they
laid hands upon Barnabas and Saul and sent them off on their
first missionary journey. (See verse 3.)

Fasting is an exciting
venture because it focuses us upon a deeper relationship
with God. God is a jealous God who gives Himself most fully
to those who give themselves to Him most completely. The
discipline of fasting helps us to give ourselves more fully
to the Lord by putting the ax to any tendencies we have that
would distract our focus from Him. In develops in us a
consistency of devotion that draws us into Godís confidence
in which He is pleased to walk with us and talk with us.

When We Desire
Spiritual Blessing And Insight

We should fast when we desire
to experience greater spiritual blessing and understanding.
Fasting not only helps us to draw closer to God, develop a
consistency in our devotion to Him, and occasionally hear
his voice when He speaks to us. It also helps us grow into
mature disciples of Jesus Christ whose lives are enriched
with an increase of blessing and wisdom. It aids us in
getting to know Jesus better "in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (See Colossians 2:3.)

Fasting Brings Divine Rewards

In Jesusí teaching on fasting, He warned that those who fast
openly to draw attention to their piety will get that
attention, but it will be the full extent of their reward
for fasting. (See Matthew 6:16.) On the other hand, those
who fast secretly desiring a deeper communion with God will
be rewarded openly.
(See verse 17-18.)

Jesus did not say just what
kind of rewards God would openly bestow upon those who fast
in secret. It is easy to surmise, though, that those who
desire Godís favor over the applause of men will be blessed
by God in every area of their lives. And, that will be hard
to hide. When we prosper in our relationships, our labors,
our finances, our ministries, and find favor with God and
man, we have been rewarded openly. And, those who humbly
fast for Godís kingdom alone can handle such blessings
because they will desire only to lead others to the same.

Fasting Brings Divine
Revelation

Weíve seen that the prophetess Anna and the prophets and
teachers in Antioch discovered that a lifestyle of worship
and fasting enabled them to hear from God. In both of those
cases, though, it was more of a word of knowledge they
received rather than any extensive revelation. Two other
biblical examples, though, demonstrate how fasting was the
precursor to extensive revelations of Godís purposes for the
nation of Israel and for the world.

Moses was fasting in the
presence of God for forty days and nights at the time that
God entrusted him with the Ten Commandments. Furthermore,
God dictated them to him, and Moses himself wrote the
commandments onto tablets of stone. (See Exodus 34:28.)
This was a supernatural fast in which Moses was sustained
with neither food nor water, and the presence of God was so
great upon him that his face was radiant with Godís glory
when he descended the mountain to return to the camp of
Israel. (See verse 29.)

Daniel was concluding a
twenty-one day fast (see Daniel 9:3; 10:10-13) when the
angel Gabriel came to him in "swift flight" and gave him an
extensive revelation of what would happen to the people of
Israel from that time all the way through to the end of
human history. (See Daniel 9-12.) It is significant that
Daniel was deeply troubled by the sins of his people and
combined his prolong fast with a heartfelt prayer of
repentance on behalf of the Jewish exiles with him in
Babylon when the angelic visit and extensive revelation
occurred. The point is that Danielís heart was so one with
Godís that God could trust him with a revelation of such
great impact.

No doubt every follower of
Jesus would say that they desire to be so one with Godís
heart that God can trust them with revelation of things to
come as He did Daniel. And, this is the promise of Jesus to
those who would follow Him. He said to His disciples of the
Holy Spirit, "he will tell you what is yet to come." (See
John 16:13.) But if we, like Daniel, are to experience
that ministry of the Holy Spirit that shows us things to
come, we must have a reason to know. For Daniel, the reason
was informed intercession. For us, perhaps it is to be both
informed intercession and guided evangelism. The point is,
though, our heart must be committed to Godís program if He
is to share the program with us. Fasting and prayer is a
key to deepening our commitment to God and His program and
receiving revelation of the same.

When
We Want To Be Equipped And To Equip Others

We should fast when we desire
to be fully equipped for the ministry God has called us to
and to be instrumental in equipping others to fulfill their
calling. For effective ministry, we need not only to be
able to hear from God in words or knowledge or extensive
revelations of things to come. We need to be empowered to
advance Godís kingdom and destroy the works of the devil in
peopleís lives.

Fasting Empowers Us For
Spiritual Warfare

One Scriptural
statement of the purpose of Jesusí ministry reads as
follows: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy
the devil's work." (See 1 John 3:8.) Our ministry as
followers of Jesus is not only to advance the kingdom of God
but to enforce the destruction of Satanís kingdom from
peopleís lives. This requires not only spiritual revelation
but spiritual power.

It was after Jesus empowered
His disciples to heal the sick and drive out demons (see
Matthew 10:1) that they had difficulties delivering a
demonized boy from a spirit of infirmity causing seizures
that would throw him into fire or water to destroy him.
(See 17:15-16.) Jesus Himself delivered the boy from the
demon of infirmity. He explained to His disciples, as we
saw earlier, that they could not cast this spirit out
because of unbelief but would indeed be able to expel such
spirits through prayer and fasting combined. (See verse 21
in the NIV footnote.) As weíve seen,
fasting debunks that
unbelief that hinders our prayer lives and thus re-empowers
our prayers. In doing so, fasting is instrumental in
empowering our ministries.

Fasting Enables Us In The
Ministry Of Impartation

It would be quite self-centered to desire a powerful
ministry ourselves but have no interest in helping other
believers experience the same. Our desire should be like
that of the Apostle Paul who wrote to the Christians in
Rome, "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some
spiritual gift to make you strong -- that is, that you and I
may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." (See
Romans 1:11-12.) Paul wanted to impart spiritual gifts to
other believers so that they could all the more powerfully
advance Godís kingdom and destroy the works of the devil.

Paul understood the ministry
of impartation and the role that fasting played in that
ministry. After he and Barnabas had preached in the cities
of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch on their first missionary
journey, they returned to those cities to appoint anointed
leadership over the churches. We read: "Paul and Barnabas
appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer
and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had
put their trust." (See Acts 14:23.) In a sense, one could
say that the fasting, prayer, and anointing of the apostles
gave these newly appointed leaders a "jump start" for their
ministries. To continue in the same, these leaders would
have to prove themselves in fasting, prayer, and servant
leadership.

To say that fasting and
prayer both empower us for ministry and enables us to
empower others for ministry through impartation shows yet
again how fasting serves as a great leveler. We are not to
build our own ministries but to serve the Body of Christ and
evangelize the lost. Whatever fruitfulness we experience in
ministry we should desire to help others experience. The
goal is for the Body of Christ to work together to see Godís
kingdom advanced and the powers of darkness dispelled. The
discipline of fasting and prayer helps position us to labor
with God toward making that happen.

Conclusion

Fasting and prayer does
not
change God. It changes us. It is not twisting Godís arm to
get Him to do our bidding but rather positioning ourselves
to receive the grace He freely gives and to do His bidding.

Fasting and prayer combined
removes the hindrances to our peace. It ensures the
sincerity of our humility, repentance, and acceptance of
pardon so that we no longer feel estranged from God. It
effectively appeals for Godís protection from harm and
victory over the enemy of our souls so that we overcome
feelings of weakness and vulnerability. It helps us humble
ourselves and lift up others who are oppressed so that we
vanquish tensions from our relationships.

Fasting and prayer combined
also aids us in progressing in our walk with God. It helps
us draw closer to him in consistency of devotion and
worship. It brings an increase in spiritual blessing and
understanding. It empowers us for ministry and enables us
to effectively impart spiritual gifts and empowerment to
others for fruitful ministry in their lives.

Fasting is a key to a
revitalized prayer life and an empowered ministry. I pray
that God motivates us to make it a regular discipline in our
lives and to appeal to Him during times of prayer and
fasting to grant each of these benefits that we find
ourselves in need of so that we can
experience a more fruitful ministry in His service.

There are
many other excellent websites about fasting/detoxing. Here would be near
the top of our recommendations regarding health issues especially:
http://www.freedomyou.com/ . Take the time to do
an Internet Search on both words (fasting/detoxing, such as:
benefits of fasting) to inform yourself as much
as possible. The more you are informed, the more you have in your
knowledge and wisdom arsenal to use when needed.

Be CAREFUL
of extremes however. Some people writing on the topic tend to go to
extremes, and you need to learn to discern them.

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Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you
can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have
the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like
to be certain. Either Jesus Christ died for yours sins, or He didn't (He
did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day
and tell Him that you didn't need
the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and
get in right-standing with God? We plead with you ... please don't make
such a tragic mistake.

To get to know God; to be at
peace with God; to have your sins forgiven; to make certain heaven will
be your home for eternity; to make certain that you are in right-standing with
God right now ... please
click hereto help understand the
importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled
to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your
decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make
in this life.

The staff and our
ministry supporters so greatly appreciate hearing how God is touching lives for
His glory through this outreach. If this ministry has blessed you in some
special way, would you please consider taking a brief moment and share your
blessing with us? Simply email us at:
ptoffice@precious-testimonies.com

We truly thank each of you who forward
these testimonials and ministry writings (and videos) to others to give them
greater awareness. Especially to
prisoners!The part the Holy Spirit has you play is vital in helping win lost soulsand encouraging and helping believers
grow in their relationship with the Lord, and we can never thank you enough for
your help on behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you would like to unite
with God in what He is doing through this outreach and desires to keep on doing
... which is primarily to help reach lost souls ...your on-going Holy Spirit directed prayers for us are the most important
contribution to God you could make on behalf of this evangelistic outreach. That's not just
"religious hockem raw-raw sisboomba canned hype request - plea" saints -- we couldn't be more serious!
The attacks upon us personally and against this ministry are not going to stop
because Satan does NOT want ministries like this one
encouraging born again believers to let God use their testimonies ... especially
on the Internet. Video testimonies probably more than written, but God
will use anything you give Him to use! You prayer warriors ... we believe
our call is not just to publish testimonies as we've done in the past, but to
help be a catalyst to motive OTHER believers to essentially duplicate what we
are doing so that God has MANY outreach ministries publishing Jesus glorifying
testimonies and keeping the gospel message of the cross ever before our
audiences. Yet please realize something: PLEASE! Born again
Christians are getting hammered by the devil to NOT write out and/or put their
born again testimony on the Internet. We must NOT let Satan get away with
this! So please, prayer warriors, keep praying that God motivates born
again believers to write out and videotape their born again testimonies and get
them up on the Internet for God to use. Appreciative born again testimonies glorifying Jesus Christ
is the second most threatening thing to Satan there IS
in reaching lost souls until Jesus returns.
The first most threatening thing is that the Body of Christ
would give themselves regularly to united CITY-WIDE PRAYER - bar none.
When Jesus said, "My house shall be called a
house of prayer"... he didn't say it was to be a house
exclusively of
preaching; teaching; testifying; praising, worshipping or anything else house,
did He? We are God's house - God's living temple. His abode is
inside born again believers. God unites with His saints through the
intimacy of PRAYER (Conversation with our Creator) to accomplish His will on
this planet, and when the Body of Christ begins to fully understand His wisdom
of the Church placing UNIFED PRAYER at the very top of the weapons God has given us to
battle evil, we will not fully grasp what God wants us understanding in
regarding to: "Until we all come into the
unity of the faith."
Doctrinally agreeing on the same things is NOT going to happen, so that is not
the "unity" God is talking about. If true Born Again believers can't agree
that our individual prayer AND our united corporate prayer (not
leaving this out of the battle equation as currently is on a global scale) is
our primary weapon to fight Satan, then we've missed everything there is
regarding coming "into the unity
of the faith"! What "faith"
is God talking about here, we need to ask ourselves. Answer: Faith (believing) that the unified
prayers of God's people - you and I - is the greatest weaponand the most effective use of this weapon God has given His
world wide Church - us individual members of the Body of Christ - to release His
will into the affairs of mankind.

This needs to be repeated
to help try to make it sink in deeply: United - unselfish - Holy Spirit guided, persistent prayer
(not backing off until the Holy Spirit gives release to do so) is the very most threatening
thing to Satan there IS.
He KNOWS He is totally powerless against God when God decides to do something
... but Satan more than anyone else in the demonic spirit
realm fully understands that if he can keep the Body of Christ from regularly
being engaged in united CORPORATE PRAYER against his evil schemes ... he will
continue to make advances and the Church will continue to diminish in influence
and God may well delay the return of Christ BECAUSE of it with a great deal of
unnecessary persecution of believers! God has sovereignly ordained the
Body of Christ to work in united harmony with Him to execute
His will on this planet, and Satan makes that his number one priority to try to
keep from happening in any major way. Are we going to let him keep doing
that, saints?!

Precious Testimonies is help
supported by the gifts of our readers and video viewers.For those who feel to send a donation, you have our assurance
that we will not be badgering you to keep sending donations, nor will we give
your contact information to anyone else. We encourage readers to view our
Ministry Feedback Section frequently, to get a small sampling
of how mightily God is touching lives through this outreach Ö all to HIS glory
of course.

We are a non-denominational 501-C-3 evangelistic ministry,
and financial gifts to this ministry are tax-deductible. A financial summary
can be viewed by clicking on the following link:
Financial Summary.

For your convenience, you can simply
click on the securePay Pal donate button below if you want to
donate by credit card. Otherwise, you can send your precious gift to:

Precious
Testimonies, P.O. Box 516, Jenison, MI 49429.

Inquiries or comments are welcome at our E-mail address
by clicking on the envelope icon below.